Poverty in the Classroom

Raising Parent Wages Is Most Effective Way To Improve Education Performance of Students

Lifting families out of poverty through increased wages would have a significant and positive impact on academic outcomes for low-income students. Studies have shown that every additional $1,000 in annual income translates into a one point increase in an intelligence test, leading to significantly higher math and reading test scores. Raising income levels above the federal free or reduced lunch thresholds would also have a dramatic positive impact on graduation and college readiness rates. The findings following a study that looked at the impact of poverty on learning and student academic success.

There is a direct relationship between education and poverty. Students living in or experiencing childhood poverty are much more likely to face significant unaddressed obstacles to classroom learning than their middle- and upper-income counterparts, and this impacts educational outcomes. In fact, data shows that family income is now the most significant predictor of academic success among students in the U.S.

[Elizabeth Parisian]: “Low-income students face a number of challenges in the classroom. Health problems to having to move frequently, hunger – you name it. And those obviously impact our outcomes. So what we’re seeing in Chicago has been this movement to hold teachers accountable for these out of school factors like a parent’s income. So what our report finds is that if you simply raise wages for minimum wage and low-wage workers it’s the most effective way to improve academic outcome for CPS students.”

The report found to meet basic needs a one parent one child family needs $17.24 an hour in Chicago. Double what many food and retail workers there earn.